Rafa Benitez's Top Ten Transfer Flops

By Mirror Football in Mirror Football Blog

Published 14:07 03/06/10

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As has long been predicted, Rafa Benitez's tenure at Liverpool has finally drawn to an end.

EXCLUSIVE - Liverpool sack Rafa Benitez  

Yes. he led Liverpool to the Champions League title; yes he lured Fernando Torres - now a cult hero - to Merseyside; and yes he has consistently managed to convince Steven Gerrard to resist the temptations of pastures new.

For these reasons, among other, he sas earned the respect of many fans. However, having spent £229million pounds, and bringing in 76 players in the process, how do Liverpool find themselves in a position where they are just scraping into the Europa League? The fundamental reason has been a lack of quality coming into the club. For every success there have been more failures.

Here, MirrorFootball's  Chris Bloor nominates Rafa's ten worst signings...

1) Alberto Aquilani
Signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2009 for a reported fee of £17million. He was brought in to fill the void left by Xabi Alonso, who left for Real Madrid, but niggling injuries - not helped by the fact he was crocked when he signed - and Benitez's desire to bed him in slowly meant that the Italian midfielder suffered a torrid first season. Only making 25 appearances, largely from the bench, he scored just two goals. We have become accustomed to seeing the disconsolate figure rooted securely to the bench, and certainly his inability to make an impression this year has acted as a catalyst to not only Liverpool's failure to qualify for the Champions League, but Rafa's departure. Net Loss: Yet to be seen, but unlikely to make pretty reading.

2 ) Robbie Keane
Nabbed from Tottenham in July 2008, for a whopping £19 million, he was supposed to be Fernando Torres' ideal partner. The Irishman had been in sparkling form for Spurs, and this encouraged Rafa to spend big. However, Benitez decided to utilise Keane largely out wide, a far cry from his role at White Heart Lane, and as such Keane's form suffered. Having played only 28 games in all competitions, and with a return of just seven goals, Rafa accepted a bid from Tottenham of £12million to take him back to White Hart Lane in January 2009. Net Loss: £7 million

3) Ryan Babel
Dubbed the 'new Thierry Henry' by the Dutch media, he has not shown anything like the quality of the Frenchman since arriving at Anfield in 2007 for £11.5million. Yet again, a big outlay on a wide player that failed to work for Rafa. Babel has shown glimpses of the form that saw him propelled into the limelight while he was at Ajax, but has never cemented a starting berth for himself. He has scored 21 goals in 129 games, but his record is inflated by success in European matches, while he still seems unacclimatised to the rigours of the Premier League. Net Loss: He remains at the club, butis constantly linked with moves away. Wouldn't come close to reaching the £11.5m Liverpool paid for him though.

4) Lucas Leiva
On splashing out £6million for the Gremio midfielder, Rafa announced that he was looking forward to seeing him score goals for Liverpool. With only five goals in 113 games thus far, Rafa will have to keep looking to the future, but no longer as Lucas' manager. He has become a hated target among the Merseyside faithful, and the lion's share of this season's failings have been attributed to him. He was unfortunate to gain his place after the departure of Xabi Alonso, and has some way to go before he will be accepted by the fans. Net Loss: A prominent member of the team last season, and a favourite of Rafa, but likely to be excluded by whoever comes in just to appease the disgruntled supporters.

5) Jermaine Pennant
The winger signed from Birmingham in June 2006 for £6.7million and, although he played 80 games for the Reds, he managed only hree goals. In his final season at Anfield he played just three games, and was shipped off to Portsmouth on loan, eventually leaving for free to join Spanish side Real Zaragoza. Net Loss: £6.7million

6) Fernando Morientes
Benitez wanted a target man to lead the line and looked to have found him when he paid Real Madrid £6.5m for Morientes in January 2005. The Spaniard arrived with a great scoring reputation, but failed dismally to live up to it. He struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League and, despite Benitez's willingness to persevere with him, he was eventually sold in 2007, after just 18 months, to Valencia for a reported fee of £3m. In the 60 games he played he managed a meagre 12 goals. Net Loss: £3.5 million

7) Albert Riera
An £8million deadline day signing from Espanyol in 2008, the left sided winger showed some good early form and became a prominent figure within the side, but injury curtailed this initial promise. In March of this year Riera shot himself in the foot by publicly criticising Benitez, and he was immediately placed on the transfer list. Despite rumours linking him with CSKA Moscow he remains at the club. His Liverpool future may now be reignited by Rafa's departure, but we will have to wait and see. Net Loss: Remains at the club, but on the transfer list. However, if he were to leave, Liverpool would be unlikely to recoup all of their initial investment.

8) Andrea Dossena
The Italian was seen as the replacement for the much-loved John Arne Risse. Signed from Udinese for £7million, he was bought as a full-back. But his only real successes in a red shirt came with high profile goals against Real Madrid and Manchester United while being employed as an auxiliary left-winger. That, though, was as good as it got for him at Anfield and Benitez let him return to Italy, with Napoli, for a reported fee of around £3million. Net Loss: £4million

9) Gabriel Paletta
Spent just one year at Liverpool, after Rafa paid Argentine club Banfield £2million for the young defender. Failing to break into the first team, he couldn't do enough to convince Benitez of his potential. As a result he was used in a trade to take Emiliano Insua to Merseyside. Net Loss: Difficult to say as it depends how successful Insua is, but the future looks bright after several good performances. Nonetheless, Paletta was yet another unsuccessful addition.

10) Antonio Nunez
Came from Real Madrid as part of the deal that saw Michael Owen going in the opposite direction. The one bright spot? He became the only player in Liverpool history to score his only goal for the club in a major cup final - in the 3-2 League Cup final loss to Chelsea in 2005. After a solitary season in England he returned to Spain, with Celta Vigo, having notched up 18 appearances. Net Loss: Some of Rafa's credibility. Losing Owen was never going to be easy for Liverpool, but seeing such an abject failure in return would not have sat well with the fans.

Who do you think was Rafa's biggest transfer flop? Sign in below and let us have your thoughts...

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